Post-less Weekends...

Apparently the weekend comes along and my computer goes into hibernation. I'm not really complaining...it usually means we're too busy doing fun stuff for me to sit down at the computer...more on that in a later post.



 
Life at our house has been a battle of wills lately...who will crack first, me or J...and it's around pretty much everything - bed time, getting up time, meals, clothes, everything! J gets some choice in some of those things - she is completely capable of picking out her own clothing, but bedtime is firm and not open to negotiation. We've started using a sticker chart and while it's currently undergoing more modifications, it's working. Except for food.

J eats breakfast...most morning. Some days she only wants part of it and takes the other part to have as a snack or with her lunch at daycare. But lunch has been coming home uneaten and dinner has been a no go. It doesn't matter what I put in her lunch or make for dinner. She's been having a lot of peanut butter and jam sandwiches for dinner, but daycare is a nut-free zone. We've tried having her select her lunch choices (from an either/or list -  do you want an apple or some strawberries). She's helped us plan dinner. But it's not working. So I called my mom. And she told me that for a while when we were kids, we were on a three day rotation of meals - macaroni and cheese, spaghetti or "special spaghetti" (lasagne...my sister would eat "special spaghetti" but not lasagne...it's all about the name) and one other thing that changed - sometimes it was fish sticks, sometimes it was chicken, sometimes it was chili.

I don't want to start cooking two meals every night, but I also don't want to eat the same three things over and over again, so I've thought about how I can make a base meal and make it both kid and grown up friendly without too much fuss.

In honour of my childhood eating (and in hopes that my own child will start eating a little bit more, so that she goes to bed a little easier because she's not hungry) here is our menu:

Monday: Bug pasta with cheese, peas and chicken and sweet potato oven fries (with green salad for the grown ups)

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Perogies with cauliflower and broccoli (and marinara sauce and salad for the grown ups)

Thursday: Homemade chicken strips with cauliflower, broccoli and sweet potato fries (and coleslaw for the grown ups)

Friday: Salmon cakes with sweet potato fries, cauliflower, broccoli and asparagus (and coleslaw for the grown ups) or maybe dinner out for the three of us in honour of Alex's birthday

Saturday: Peanut butter and jam for J with leftovers for her sitter, dinner out for me and Alex

Sunday: Personal pizzas with Bop's pizza dough

If you'd like to see menus with more variety and that might be not as toddler friendly, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for her weekly link up.